Drenthe scored a scintillating goal to give Everton FC the lead in their eventual 1-1 draw with QPR on Saturday, but five minutes later gave away the free-kick which allowed Mark Hughes’ men to level.

The Toffees were left feeling frustrated at Loftus Road, but Distin insists Drenthe is still worth his place in David Moyes’ side, because of the flair he conjures out of nothing during games.

He said: “That’s Roy. He scored a fantastic goal and just needs to be a bit more disciplined. Maybe if he gets too disciplined though he could lose that little bit of craziness at the other end of the pitch. We’ve got to take him as he is.

“Sometimes you try to change a player but he can’t be perfect. That’s his personality and altogether it’s more beneficial than anything else so we’re fine with it.”

Drenthe’s misjudged tackle on Adel Taraabt allowed QPR to take the free-kick which Bobby Zamora headed home, but Distin said the on loan winger should not be made a scapegoat.

“What is discipline though?,” said the defender. “Another day with the same tackle he might have got the ball, it goes out for a corner and everyone’s happy. Yes it was a foul but they didn’t score because of his foul, they scored because we didn’t defend the cross properly.

"If we cleared the ball then we’d have forgotten about it and said he had a great game. You’ve got to be realistic.

“He’s dangerous and you can’t ask him to be dangerous, have that spark, and defend all the time. Every player is different and we all have our own strengths. You’ve got to play on it.”

Distin blamed a poor playing surface at Loftus Road for stunting Everton FC’s fluency, and also admitted the two week break since their last game had made life difficult for them.

“You could say it’s frustrating but to be fair the condition of the pitch was poor and QPR had a good game as well. The surface was very bobbly and we tried to do our best on it.

“First half we did OK but in the second half we didn’t keep the ball well enough. It was a bit frustrating but a point away from home keeps us unbeaten and keeps our run going.

“When you’re having a good run you don’t want that break. You want to carry on, you want the next game to come quickly and you want to keep the positive feeling going.

"Sometimes that break brings you back to reality a bit and that showed against QPR.”